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Premium Album Sample: Beckham the Labrador

Monday, September 10th, 2012

Another premium album came in, and I actually had enough time to photograph it before delivering it to my client! She was super-patient in waiting for it, since premium albums take a bare minimum of two weeks for the printing & binding process, plus the shipping time, plus the time I need to do a thorough quality check… so I was thrilled to finally hand this off to its rightful owner! It features Beckham the labrador, a super-sweet big ball of happy.

 

Beckham’s mom opted for the photo cover album. Here’s the box this album came in:

 

The cover is incredibly smooth and slightly soft to the touch. I love it!

 

Vellum paper aside, you can see Beckham’s handsome face!

Vellum paper and a photo album.

 

One of the most colorful spreads in the book; I love this one!

A professionally-design album page spread of a happy labrador.

 

This spread contains a wonderful, wonderful quote. It says:

“He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.”    – Unknown

A dog quote in a premium album.

 

Zoomed out so you can see the whole spread:

A professionally-designed spread of album pages.

 

 Thick pages!

A side view of the pages of a high-quality professional photo album featuring a black labrador.

 

That’s it for now… thanks for reading & have a great Monday!

 

Fun Products for Your Digital Images

Tuesday, August 7th, 2012

I’ve been excited about this blog post for a long time, and finally had a few spare minutes today to put it all together! I’m thrilled to introduce you to Pinhole Press, a fabulous provider of “beautifully simple photo gifts”!  You know I think photos speak louder than words, so here are a few samples of their work (featuring Daly & Kaylee):

 

High-quality paper and book products made from consumer digital photos.

 

Books, notepads, professional-quality prints…

A collection of paper products made from digital images.

 

As a professional photographer, I’m happy to provide my clients with the digital images from their session. We live in a digital age, so I know the files will get plenty of mileage as screen savers and Facebook albums – but at the same time, I know all too well that photos on a disk can stay right there. On the disk. And never leave it! Honestly, there’s no good that can come from having your digital photos and never DOING anything with them! But the most accessible (and cheapest) places to get photos printed are from pharmacies & big box stores that, unfortunately, can’t turn out quality prints on a consistent basis. So I kind of shudder a bit every time someone mentions getting their photos printed at a nearby shop, because I just know they won’t turn out like I see them on my monitor or as they would with one of my professional labs. They won’t look their best. So here’s the quandary: keep photos in the digital world and never turn them into anything, or turn them into cheap prints that’ll fade & lose their luster in a few years? Yuck. Neither!

Lucky for me, Pinhole Press stepped up to bat and provided a solution that THRILLS me and keeps my clients really happy too! They are a professional-quality lab open to consumers – and they make a lot more than prints! You can see in the examples above & below that they have an awesome, diverse product lineup. Everything they sell is high-quality, of course, but just as importantly, their printing processes reliably and consistently turn out perfect colors & exposure from your digital images. Having your prints made at a cheap place (and all the risks you take with that) is no longer your only option! So to see all the product choices you have, click on this link and prepare to be awed. Here are a couple of  products you might like:

A small brag book with fabric covers and ribbon closures… (featuring Barkley)

Small brag book, a product for which to upload your digital photos.

An accordion card (yes, you can drop this in the mail!) with Beckham’s handsome face.

Accordion card for digital photo use.

 Here are my Photo Notepads :

Honestly, the paper quality is outstanding. They’re made of Mohawk Fine paper and completely environment-friendly. Um… have I said enough nice things about Pinhole Press yet? Haha – I just re-read this post and I think I’m on the verge of sounding like one of their employees…! But really, I’m careful about recommending anything, especially here on the blog, because I’d hate to point someone toward a negative experience. The good news is I have the confidence in Pinhole Press to introduce them to as many people as possible. (oh – and they have a Facebook page too) :)

Here’s the link one more time: www.pinholepress.com  So, past clients: take your photos from our session and turn them into accordion cards and photo pads! Or, heck, grab your photos from your point-and-shoot camera that you took while on vacation this summer; you don’t have to use professional images to take advantage of this resource. Let me know if you have any questions – but you probably won’t, since their website/creation process is pretty intuitive. So go forth and PRINT!

 

 

~~~

 

 

Edited for clarification: I do not sell any Pinhole Press products to my clients. (although sometimes I give them to my clients as gifts!) All the prices listed on the site are consumer-based and available to anyone.

In addition, if you clicked on the links above (as opposed to Googling “Pinhole Press”), upon creating an account, you’ll see a pre-entered “photographer’s code”. Don’t worry, even though you’re not a photographer, you’re perfectly allowed to use the code. That’s there simply so that Pinhole can track where their customers are coming from, and there are no special privileges/differences that go along with it or if you’d like to go without it.

Premium Album Sample: Marcel the Poodle

Thursday, July 26th, 2012

I wanted to feature another premium album here on the blog, because since the last time I featured a premium album, THREE more clients’ albums have come and gone! Without me taking ANY photos of them! I’m sad I didn’t get the chance to photograph those, but honestly, if I can receive the album, do a full quality check, and deliver it to my client all in the same day, I will! I’m not going to delay delivering their album just so I can take a few photos. So that’s what’s happened a few times now, but this time, I finally had a bit of time after receiving this one to show off its features!

 

This is the silk-cover album, which comes in my favorite carrying case: a padded leather box with velvet interior lining.

Dog photography album leather carrying case.

 

I literally gasped when I first saw this silk shantung cover. The red is STUNNING.

Dog photography album showing beautiful red silk shantung cover material.

 

Dog photography album spine binding.

 

The pages are quite thick – they’d be impossible to accidentally tear.

Dog photography album thick pages.

 

There’s always the option to place a photo as a cover inset, and it’s something for which I don’t charge extra – the look of the album with or without the cover photo can be gorgeous either way. But in this case, I love the family photo my clients chose for their cover! I think it starts off the album really well.

Dog photography album showing inset cover photo example.

 

Dog photography album photos of the cover and an inside image.

 

True lay-flat binding.

Dog photography album showing spine binding.

 

Full-spread photos are my favorite. :)

Dog photography album full-bleed spread of a photo.

 

Choosing the quotes for premium albums can be almost as challenging as selecting the images! I love this quote by John Grogan.

Dog photography album interior quote about dogs.

 

I looooooove my premium albums – and if you’re one of my clients with your own album, you know exactly why they’re so wonderful! Thanks for reading! :)

Real Premium Album Sample: Razzie & Cherry

Wednesday, May 30th, 2012

I was so excited when the FedEx man knocked on my door yesterday! He was carrying the first-ever (first-ever!) premium album for one of my clients! I’ve only been carrying these incredible products since April, after I attended a photography convention and couldn’t bear to walk away without sharing such beautiful works of art with my clients. They really are amazing – the craftsmanship, the attention to detail that my printers give – it’s flat-out incredible. And when they’re filled with artfully-arranged images of members of your family, jaw-dropping doesn’t even begin to describe them! (I should know – one of my samples features Bailey!)

 

So here’s the premium album that Razzie & Cherry’s mom ordered. I took a bunch of photos of it today, and hopefully this post gives you a good idea of the beautiful details it includes! She decided on the silk cover album option. It arrives in a plush, padded leather carrying case…

A photo of the leather carrying case of a premium dog photography album featuring two black miniature poodles.

 

She opted for a silk brocade cover material in black, which has a beautiful mix of texture and silky smoothness.

A photo of the side and box of a premium dog photography album featuring two black miniature poodles.

 

She also chose to put her dogs’ names on the cover (instead of a photo). For simplicity’s sake, it’s a great choice! A favorite photo could be placed there just as easily.

A photo of the cover of a premium dog photography album featuring two black miniature poodles.

 

A photo of the cover fabric of a premium dog photography album featuring two black miniature poodles.

 

The pages are wonderfully thick; you’d never rip or tear them.

A photo of the side of a premium dog photography album featuring two black miniature poodles.

 

One of my favorite features about premium albums? We can work quotes into the design! There are SO many wonderful (and touching) quotes about dogs out there, and I already have a small library-size compilation of them to choose from!

A photo of a quote on the title page of a premium dog photography album featuring two black miniature poodles.

 

A photo of a quote inside a premium dog photography album featuring two black miniature poodles.

 

We have a little more creative freedom to mix color and black & white photos in premium albums, than compared to a wall gallery. It can be tricky, but done right, the correct photos really POP.

A photo of a spread inside a premium dog photography album featuring two black miniature poodles.

 

As you can see, the photo stretches across the entire spread. The line you see down the middle is the glare from my office window, not a seam or gutter.

A photo of a spread inside a premium dog photography album featuring two black miniature poodles.

 

A close-up of the way the photo encompasses the entire spread. There’s no gutter!

A photo of a partial spread inside a premium dog photography album featuring two black miniature poodles.

 

Tomorrow I get to hand off this album to its rightful owner… but it was so fun to see it myself and take a few pictures :)  Thanks so much for letting me play with (and design) your pooches, Christel!

 

Premium Albums: The Leather Cover

Thursday, March 29th, 2012

Ahhhh, we’re here. This post reveals the last Premium Album that I offer, from one more totally separate album provider. This is the album I’ve been most excited about all along, for two reasons. First of all, it’s leather, and leather is always what I’ve envisioned as being a huge characteristic of a top-of-the-line photography album. I suppose I have a soft spot for it. Secondly, this album features my favorite dog in the world: my girl Bailey.

 

The box it comes in is leather, and has a small magnetic closure.

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

Oh. Oh yes. Take in that leather.

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

And the imprinting of Bailey’s name on the cover…

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

I hope you can see the texture of the leather. It’s top-of-the-line, and I could tell you the technical qualifications a quality guarantees surrounding it… but suffice to say, it’s NICE. And not just “nice”… I mean NICE.

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

The pages have a substrate in-between them that’s actually a different color than the prints. I think it gives the album’s side view a really distinctive look!

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

A black spread to start…

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

With my embossed logo on the inside cover!

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

Could these pages be any flatter? They’re so flat they’re bending back with the cover! I love that they lay directly against it like that.

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

Sigh. I know I’m a nerd for swooning over an album… but that’s okay with me.

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

Oh hey Bailey! Here’s an example of a spread – you can see that there’s a seam in the middle (not really a gutter, per se) but it’s so thin that in the 24-inch span of this book (it measures 12×12 when closed) I think it hardly makes any difference in the overall layout.

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

A closer look at the pages…

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

More leather texture. Man I wish you could feel this through your screen…

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

I know these photos haven’t done this album (or the photo-cover one, or the silk one) justice. But I hope you can see a small part of why I’ve been so, so excited for a very long time to introduce these products. They are at the very top of the line, the best of the best in the photography industry, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to offer them to my clients!

Thanks for taking a look!

 

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